Female Supremacy Articles - Page 9

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Since the 1940s days of Bacall and Bogart there has been a natural whittling away of how a filmic female character gets her man.

Women have become bolder, sassier, and they're not afraid to ask for what they want. And, often, what they want is sex. They may have always wanted it, but they never used to ask for it. To add to this, they seem to be getting it, and on their own terms, too.

Seductive women have always drawn the crowds to movie houses. The camera has been obsessed with screen sirens, from Marlene Dietrich to Elizabeth Taylor to Sharon Stone. Men have desired them and women have hoped to fill their shoes. Yet, there is something essentially different about the new breed of women who feature in films such as Secretary, L'Idole, Sex with Strangers and Personal Velocity. Not only do they not wait for a man to whistle, they also make for great female leads, with all the complexity and depth for which any burgeoning actress could ask.

At times their audacity is extraordinary. In Secretary, Lee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is initially introduced by her boss (James Spader) to the art of sado-masochism, but soon learns she has found her sexual calling. From this point on, Lee takes the initiative to fulfil her desires by whatever means necessary. And even though her boss soon gets cold feet over the arrangement, she eventually gets her man.